Classic Peanut Butter Blossoms, made with butter instead of shortening, get a festive holiday twist with colored sugar. A Hershey’s Kiss is the final touch!
It is official – I have Christmas baking fever. I can’t stop making festive baked goods! The same thing happened to me last year – it is just so much fun to bake this time of year. I love baking old favorites like these and trying something new, like these Peanut Butter Blossoms!
I am not alone in my baking obsession – my friend Erin from The Speckled Palate decided to declare this week Christmas Cookie Week! I am thrilled to join her and some other great bloggers in celebrating all things butter and sugar! If you want to join us this week head to this link to learn more!
I know Peanut Butter Blossoms are not a “new” cookie – they have been around for ages, and I always tend to see them around Christmas. But, they are new to me because I have never made them until yesterday. And oh wow – these are definitely becoming a new Christmas tradition. These cookies are delicious!! And TheBetterHalf was thrilled that I put penaut butter into a Christmas cookie – he is not a big fan of plain sugar cookies, which is usually my cookie of choice this time of year! And he is the world’s biggest chocolate peanut butter fan.
The cookie itself is super soft and is full of peanut Butter flavor. I hate when PB cookies don’t really taste like PB. No problem here – 3/4 cup of creamy peanut butter ensures a rich and nutty flavor in every bite! The cute Hershey’s Kiss on top of each cookie makes the peanut butter blossoms so pretty, and of course adds to the delicious flavor!
I rolled half of my cookies in colored sugar before I baked the dough – I love the festive look that it gives the cookies! I rolled some in regular granulated sugar to have some plain as well.
Almost all of the recipes that I came across for this classic cookie use shortening. While I’m sure I have eaten my fair share of shortening from bakeries and such, I just can’t bring myself to buy and bake with shortening. It just grosses me out, I have a weird mental block against it. So I decided to make Peanut Butter Blossoms without shortening – I used the classic recipe on the back of the Hershey’s Kiss Bag, and subbed in butter for the shortening. It worked like a charm!! So if you have a shortening phobia like I do, then this is definitely the recipe for you!
I made a few other minor changes to the recipe as well – I chilled my dough before baking it, and baked at 350 degrees instead of 375.
If you want to link up your Christmas cookie recipes this week, be sure to visit The Speckeled Palate. She will be doing a roundup of all the Cookie goodness on Sunday!
Classic Peanut Butter Blossoms, made with butter instead of shortening, get a festive holiday twist with colored sugar. A Hershey's Kiss is the final touch!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup creamy Peanut Butter
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Additional granulated sugar or colored sugar
- 40 Hershey's Kisses
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and peanut butter until well combined. Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar and beat until light fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla and beat well.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.
- Slowly pour the flour mixture into the peanut butter mixture and mix until combined.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill the dough until firm, about 1 hour (or up to 48 hours).
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll each ball in granulated sugar or colored sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet, spaced 2 inches apart
- While the cookies bake, unwrap the chocolates
- Bake cookies for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and immediately press a chocolate into center of each cookie; cookie will crack around edges. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Hershey's
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These are freakin’ adorable!
Thanks, Amina!
I love anything peanut butter and you made peanut butter super festive!! Love and pinned!
Love a classic holiday cookie!! These flavors are perfect!
I’m on a holiday baking streak as well! I love that you made these will all butter rather than shortening. They are so pretty with the red and green sprinkles!
These are so great Cate! They are such a classic but I love that you swapped shortening for butter. So festive!
Love the red and green holiday twist on these classic cookies!
These are my favorite Christmas cookie, hands down. They’re so simple, but everybody loves ’em! Your’s are so pretty!
Thank you so much! I think these are my new faves!
I can’t stop eating these.
I love how colorful and pretty your pb blossoms are!!!
Love the colors of these peanut butter blossoms! Perfect for Christmas!
Yum! Love the festive colors on this holiday classic 🙂
Love them. What a pretty stack of colorful cookies for the holidays!
These are so fun! Love the different color sprinkles! Perfect for gifts!
Can you believe I haven’t baked any cookies yet?!?! I know, it’s crazy! I gotta get on this immediately. Love these pb blossoms! And I’m totally with you on the butter 🙂
These are one of my favorite holiday cookies. And these are perfectly festive!! Mr J will love these!!
Peanut Blossoms are one of the cookies my family makes yearly, and we make it just like you do — with the butter, not shortening. I love how you changed these up with the addition of colored sugar. What a fun way to make them look more Christmas-y! And I’m gonna be bringing home your sugar trick this year when I bake with my mom and sister on Christmas Eve — that’ll be so much fun!
Thanks so much for participating in this year’s Christmas Cookie Week! I’m so happy to have you on board, and it’s thrilling to see what everyone has been baking in preparation of the holidays. Here’s to a great season filled with all kinds of delicious baked goods!
Just came across your recipe a few days ago and immediately made them. So very good…they’ve replaced grandma’s recipe for all future peanut blossoms made in this house! Thanks for sharing and Merry Christmas!
I found this recipe because I googled ‘Peanut Blossoms without shortening’, lol. I totally agree with how you feel about buying it. Thank you, I am making these today, and the colored sugar is awesome.
Sheryl